had a car yet . . . or speakers, for that matterand he proceeded to sand a piece of maple that yesterday hed crosscut to length. But his mind was not on the project, and several moments later, after Zivneys friends had returned from the office and Rick had accidentally on purpose bumped into him, causing the handheld sander to veer off the board and onto the table, he stopped. He liked woodworkingand he was good at itbut he couldnt put up with this for an entire semester. Mitchell and Rick were starting to work on their own projects, and Ed went up to Mr. Ruiz and asked the teacher if he could have a hall pass to go to the office.
Whats the matter? the instructor asked. Dont you feel well?
He didnt want to say the real reason, but he didnt really have a choice, so he lowered his voice. I think Im going to transfer to another class.
Hed expected the teacher to try to talk him out of it. But Mr. Ruiz seemed to instinctively understand Eds plight. The instructor nodded, gave him a reassuring smile. Were going to miss you, he said, writing out a hall pass.
Its not, Ed began.
I know, the teacher said.
Ed walked across campus feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off him. He passed Cheryl in the hallway between the science and social studies buildings. The student body president did not acknowledge him, but he grinned at her and said, Hey, Cher! Hows it going?
Drop dead, she muttered as she walked past.
I retract my invitation to the homecoming dance, then. Youre out.
In your dreams, loser.
He laughed.
There were fewer students in the quad than there should have been. Quite a few seniors didnt have a seventh period, and in previous years a lot of them had hung around Senior Corner, waiting for their friends to get out of school and hassling any underclassmen who happened to pass by. Today, however, the quad was deserted save for himself and a girl he didnt know who was heading from the Little Theater toward the restrooms.
Maybe the administration had made a new rule that students couldnt loiter on campus after their classes ended. It would be a stupid rulebut he could definitely see it happening.
A lot of things were different this semester.
Almost none of them good.
Ed reached the office and pulled open the tinted door, walking inside. Instantly, the buoyant lightness he had felt after leaving woodshop vanished. He stood there for a moment, acclimatizing. There was something creepy about the office. Hed noticed that the other day. The lights seemed too low, for one thing, and there were shadows in the corners that shouldnt have been there in the daytime. But there was something else as well, something he couldnt quite put his finger on, and he walked forward slowly, almost cautiously. He handed his hall pass to the secretary at the front desk. Im here to see my counselor. He found when he spoke that his voice was quiet, subdued.
Who is your counselor?
I dont know. Im a senior, so I guess its Mr. Hill.
Mr. Hill is no longer at the school, the secretary informed him, and the way she said it made his arms break out in gooseflesh. Your new counselor is Ms. Tremayne. The secretary pointed down a short hallway. Room B.
A TA walked by silently, carrying a stack of interoffice envelopes, looking blank and dull, almost tranquilized.
Zombified.
That was even more accurate, and he shivered as he saw another TA pass by, a vacant expression on her face.
The secretary was staring at him suspiciously? and he quickly thanked her and walked around the front desk, through the open area behind it and toward room B. Short as it was, he still didnt like the hallway. He didnt like the entire office. The counselor, though,
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